Blog:Beer before wine, feel fine - wine before beer?

My three-week adventure in Argentina came to an end last week, and no sooner do I get back than our friends in the brewing industry, who may have felt somewhat neglected during my wine exploits, give me something to write (home?) about.

The race to snap up Foster’s Asian brewing interests appeared to take an interesting turn last week, with Asia Pacific Breweries mooted to be the new front-runner. Industry sources told just-drinks that, while Scottish & Newcastle and SABMiller were the original favourites, APB seems prepared to stump up more cash for the assets.

In the US, meanwhile, the continuing backbiting between Anheuser-Busch and Miller saw the latter pull “I told you so” poses, with A-B admitting that it had changed the recipes of Budweiser and Bud Light, despite its dismissal of Miller’s claims late last year as “just another marketing ploy”.

And with Molson Coors set to announce its figures early this week, it looks like the brewers are set to hog the limelight for a little while longer.

Looming on the horizon, and itching to steal a share of the limelight, meanwhile, is the London International Wine & Spirit Fair. The event, which has become the seminal meeting point for the world’s wine companies, returns this month, and just-drinks has all the bases covered – not only will we be there in person, with our own stand where you can come and say hello and check your emails, but we’re also launching a preview diary today. Every day between now and 16 May, we’ll be running a page highlighting who’s doing what, when and where at ExCel.

To let us, and all our subscribers, know what your plans for the LIWSF are, drop me a line at editor@just-drinks.com, and we’ll put you in our diary.